Safety mechanism for winding apparatus for mines or the like.



No. 746,271; I P-ATENTED DEG. 19.03,

I J. BERRY. SAFETY MECHANISM FOR WINDING APPARATUS IO MINES OR-II E'LIKE;

APPLICATION FIIIBD JUNE 14, 1902.

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1 V UNITED STATE Patented December 8, 1903.

PATENT "OFFICE.

V SAFETY MECHANISM FOR WINDING APPARATUS FOR MINES OR THE LIKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 746,271, dated December 8, 1903.

Application filed June 14,1902. Serial No. 111,799. (No model.) V

To all whont it concern: l

Be it known that I, J EHU BERRY, asubject of the King of Great Britain, residing on the property of the Jupiter Gold Mining Company, 1 Limited, Witwatersrand Gold Fields,-'lransvaal, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Mechanism forWinding Apparatus for Mines or the Like, (for which I have applied for Letters Patent in the Transvaal, No. 257, filed December 24, 1901, and No. 278, filed January 18, 1902,) of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates moreparticularly to a safety arrangement or mechanism intended to be used with that class of winding apparatus usually employed when sinking shafts or like mining operations. It may, nevertheless,-be used with winding apparatus employed for other purposes to which'it may be applicable.

In the class of winding apparatus previously referred to it is customary to providea crosshead or guide arranged on the hauling rope or cable above the bucket, which traverses the shaft for the purpose of steadying and guiding the bucket or cage as it ascends or descends.

As heretofore constructed this guide or cross-head has been maintained in proper position above the bucket merely by gravity or by virtue of its own weight. With this arrangement it sometimes occurs that while descending the shaft the said guide is held up or arrested by some obstacle or irregularity in the shaft-timbersor from other causes and the bucket continues to'descend the shaft without being controlled or steadied,

provide a means for preventing the bucket from continuing to descend the shaft in the event of the cross-head being so arrested, and I attain the desired end by detachably connecting the guide or cross-head with the bucket or cage in such a way that it will be automatically released by the crossshead only when the bucket'reachesthe desired predetermined point in the shaft, and in the event of the cross-head being arrested or jamming at any intermediate point it will remain attached to thebucketor cage and keep it suspended in the shaft.

In order that the invention-maybe more ireadilyunderstood, drawings areattached in which sufficientof the winding apparatus is shown to illustrate the application thereto of my invention, and by aid of which drawings I will now proceed to'describe the invention in detail.

In the drawings, Figure 1 shows a front elevation of one form of theinvention designed for use in narrow shafts and with small buckets, and Fig. 2 a section of Fig. 1 on line m w.

Referring to the arrangement illustrated in the figures, the cross-head or guide consists of two vertical members A A, adapted to traverse the runners B, located at either side of shaft. The vertical members A A are provided with metal wearing-plates a on the sides adjacent to the runners B, and they I are connected top and bottom by the transverse plates or members 0 O. The plates 0 C are fitted at both sides of the members A A and at their ends overlap the runners B, so as to compel the cross-head to traverse the shaft between the runners. In the center of the upper and lower transverse plates are fitted bushes b b, through which the hauling rope or cable D passes, the rope being suitably connected with the bucket D beneath the cross-head. v

The lower transverse plates 0 are provided with brackets or lugs c c at either side of the ropeD and in proximity thereto,which support crosspins or pivots d d. On the pins or pivots d d are mounted the operating bell-crank leversE E. The upper arms of each of the levers E E, which assume an approximately horizontal position, are bent, as seen in Fig. 2, and project outward in opposite directions toward the runners B or the vertical members A A of the cross-head on opposite sides. To the transverse member 0' at either side are attached brackets. or guides 0 in whichwork the'outer and free ends of' the upper arms of the levers E E.

in Fig. 1. ately above the bucket D, is securely fixed a rope-clamp F. This clamp,which is preferably formed in halves and bolted or otherwise suitably attached in position on the rope,

is provided with a flange or annular projection f. As indicated in Fig. 1, the hooks or projections of the bell-crank levers E E engage the flangefof the rope-clamp F to detachably connect the cross-head to the bucket.

To the runners B and on dividers B at the point at which it is desired to arrest and support the cross-head and to release the bucketordinarily the bottom of the shafttimbersare fixed brackets G G, forming stops 0r projections g g at either side of the runners and arranged so as to come in contact with or engage the outer extremities of the upper arms of the operating-levers E E on the descent of the cross-head. When the ends of the levers E E come in contact with stops 9 g, the levers are raised and, turning on the pivots d d, release the hooks from the flange on the rope-clamp F and thereupon free the bucket and permit it to descend to the workings at the bottom of the shaft.

The transverse members 0 at either side of the runners B are so shaped, as seen at b in Fig. 1, that they engage the stops 9 g to support the cross-head after the levers E E have been operated to disengage the flange on the rope-clamp F. When the cross-head is at rest on the stops 9 g, the hooks are maintained in a distended position, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, to receive and embrace the flangefas the bucket ascends and lifts the cross-head clear of the stops, and thereby automatically form the connection between the bucket and the cross-head.

In order to positively operate the hooks or hooked arms of the levers E E to engage the rope-clamp on the ascent of the bucket, crosspieces h h are riveted or otherwise fixed between or on the inside of the lower transverse plates 0. To either side of each of the hooks are pivotally attached links or rods '5 t", which slide through slots formed for that purpose in the cross-pieces h h. The outer ends of the links t' 2" beyond the cross-pieces h h are connected by yokes or end pieces 1? 2', each of which supports an adjustable rod or bolt 7;", formed with a head or nut i between which and the inside of the cross-pieces h h are arranged spiral springs t 11 The rods i, around which the springs are arranged, work freely through holes formed in the crosspieces 72 h. The cross-pieces h h have attached to them between the links 2' '11 cylindrical pieces or cups 43 which receive a portion of the springs t 2' to prevent undue lateral expansion on the compression of the springs.

When the hooks have been operated to release the rope-clamp and the cross-head is supported on the stops 9 g, the upper arms of the levers E E are raised to the position On the hauling-rope D, immedi indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, and the corresponding backward movement imparted to the hooks compresses the springs t' i between the heads 7: of the bolts '5 and the cross-pieces h h through the medium of the links 1' '11. The parts remain in this position so long as the cross-head remains on the stops 9 g; but upon the bucket being raised the flange f of the rope-clamp comes in contact with the under side of the lower transverse member 0 and raises the cross-head clear of the stops 9 g, whereupon the springs 17% act automatically to force the hooks forward into engagement with the flange f of the ropeclamp F and retain them in that position until the levers E E are again operated on the descent of the cross-head. This mechanism also acts to prevent the hooks disengaging the flange fby shock in the event of the crosshead being suddenly arrested as it descends the shaft.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to protect by Letters Patent, is-

1. A safety mechanism for winding apparatus for mines and the like consisting of runners, stops thereon, a guide for the haulingrope sliding on said runners, a projection on the rope, levers pivoted on said guide having a portion adapted to engage the projection on the rope, the free ends of said levers being arranged to contact with the stops to release the said portions from the projection, and springs for forcing the levers into engagement with the projection when the guide is raised from the stops on the ascent of the bucket.

2. A safety mechanism for winding apparatus for mines and the like consisting of runners, stops thereon, a guide for the haulingrope sliding on said runners, a projection on the rope and levers pivoted to said guide hav ing a portion to engage with said projection and a part extending horizontally beyond the sides of the guides.

3. A safety mechanism for winding apparatus for mines and the like, consisting of a guide for the hauling-rope, a flange on said rope, levers pivoted to said guide, said levers having depending hooks adapted to engage the flange on the rope, and springs engaging with the depending hooks, said springs operating to place the hooks in engagement with the flange when the cross-head is raised on the ascent of the bucket.

4. In a safety mechanism for winding apparatus for mines and thelike, a hauling-rope having a flange thereon, a guide or cross-head therefor, levers pivoted between the transverse members of the cross-head and arranged horizontally thereon, guides fixed to the cross head to control the movement of the levers, stops secured to the shaft-timbers with which the free ends of the levers come in contact on the descent of the cross-head, hooks depending from the inner ends of the levers adapted to engage the flange on the rope,

-746,271 I v a I 8 and springs connected with the said hooks for forcing the hooks into engagement with the flange when the bucket is raised.

5. In a safety mechanism for winding apparatus for mines and the like, in combination, the two vertical members A A of the guide, the transverse members O O overlapping the vertical members A A at their ends, the lugs or bracketso 'o' and the pivots d d, the operating bell-crank levers E E, projecting to the outside of the transverse members, and with their inner arms in the form of depending hooks, the rope-clamp F and the annular flange ft'orrned thereon, the crosspieces h h fixed between the lower transverse plates 0, the links '11 i pivotally attached to h h, the guides c o for the levers E E, and

the stops 9 g fixed to the runners, substantially as described and shown.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing wit DGSSGS.

J EHU BERRY. Witnesses:

CHAS.. OVENDALE', G. TAYLOR. 

